I am currently out of work and have a lot of spare time on my hands so I am getting together a "build sheet" of sorts for the 327 I plan to build to go in a 68' Camaro.

The "overall" goal with the car is to have something that is relatively "mild mannered" on the street, ie; won't overheat in a parade or traffic, will "idle" and have decent power brake vacuum. I am re-building a Muncie M-20 for the car with 1" shaft and "supercase", the rear end and rear suspension have not been determined yet, but since I will also need to be able to drive at highway speeds for "longish" trips I want to keep the rear somewhere about 3.56 to maybe just a bit taller 3.33 or so.

The block is a 3903352 327 block from a 67-68 Impala
Crank is 4577 3.25 stroke, forged steel

For the bottom end I am think to do the following
I will have the block completely cleaned, shot blasted and checked for cracks.
Then have the main caps "doweled and strapped" with ARP studs
Line hone the mains and cam journals to "realign" them
Deck the block 25 thousandths to 9.00"
Bore/hone to about .35 to .040" over
Have the crank polished (pretty sure it does NOT need grinding)
Balance the crank and flywheel assembly
Might possibly have it "knife edged" and lightened a bit first (not sure yet)

I plan to use Eagle H beam rods in either 5.850" or 6.00" I did not get rods with the crank so rather than just go with 5.7"s I figured to get the rod/stroke ratio to 1.8+/1

Piston choice is next, I know I want "flat tops" so the Compression Height would be determined by the rod length chosen and the overbore

I want to build as "bullet proof" a bottom end that I can while not "breaking the bank" and sticking with a period correct 327 block and crank. I am thinking that this motor might go through some "stages" in the future so I want the short block to be able to handle a bit more than the what I am first building it to.

So here are my questions/ things I want comments/suggestions on.

1: Any suggestions as to Hypereutectic or Forged pistons. The engine will be carb-ed but I might want a 50-100 shot of NOS at some point (just to really have those rice burner kids sh** their pants) I have also thought about 18 degree flat tops to give me more valve clearance with the zero or "popped up" deck height and long duration cam.

2: Taking into account that maybe I might want a little "juice" squirt in the future should I look at the 5.850" rods rather than 6" to keep some space between the piston head and the wrist pin and not "bunch up" the rings?

3: Compression ratio, I would like to build a little "adjustment" into the motor, so I am thinking to try and keep the piston just flush with the deck at TDC or "popped" up 5 thou or less. Then use a "thin" head gasket and slightly larger chamber to get my desired C/R that way I can go with a bit bigger bore, thicker gasket if I need to lower the C/R for more juice in the future. Sound like an idea?

4": HEADS?? Trying to pick a good set of heads is like trying to read the "fine print" on a Credit Card agreement! I have read every damn article and test out there for the past few YEARS and I still don't think I have a CLUE what I REALLY WANT to run for heads. I know that they are probably the single most influence on the power and response of the engine BUT I also don't have the "budget" to spend $2,200+ on a set of heads. What I am asking here is, can anyone "convince" me that a set of $1,600 AFR heads will have a noticeable advantage over a set of Vortec's modified for higher lift? I can pick up a set of Vortecs and build them for about half of the AFR's.

Any other suggestions? Anyone with "speerience" on a similar type 327 build?